Successful applicants have been chosen for the first round of grants from the Mount Emerald Wind Farm Community Fund.
RATCH-Australia will donate $200,000 every year of the 53 turbines’ working lives to support groups local to the wind farm.
This sum will rise in line with inflation to make sure there is always a meaningful amount available.
More than forty applications were received from organisations involved in education, the arts, sports, healthcare, conservation and training.
A panel made up of community-spirited individuals from Mareeba, Atherton and Tolga assessed the applications and recommended the most deserving of support.
Advisory Committee Chairman, Magistrate Tom Braes, said: “It was far from a straightforward task to choose the most deserving applications for support from such a high-quality field.
“I am grateful for the considerable efforts of the three local volunteers on the committee that co-operated to decide on the first recipients from the fund. We were particularly pleased to be able to support projects from across the area.
“We would certainly encourage anyone who missed out this time to apply again, using the guidelines available on the project website to help make sure applications are as strong as possible.
“We look forward to receiving the next batch of applications as well as seeing some of these excellent projects come to fruition.”
Successful groups were:
- Tolga State School P&C
- Malanda Bowls Club
- Mount Molloy School
- Mareeba and District Pony Club
- Kairi State School
- Walkamin State School (pictured)
- Biboohra State School
- Atherton Cricket Association
- Helpful Hearts
Applications can be made at any time, with deadlines for consideration in the next round of funding on 31 January and 31 July. Groups based within 50km of the wind farm, or 40km of the Windy Hill Wind Farm near Ravenshoe are eligible to apply.
Full details and application forms are available on the project website.
